Portfolio_Meng Wei Lai

Portfolio

Meng-Wei Lai Master of Architecture Sci-Arc

The Tower Gallery & Cafeteria Instructor: Eric Owen Moss/2017 Spring Location: Hayden Ave., Culver City What is a tower? I think a tower has the certain vertical richness of space, so I stretch the site vertically and design it into different conditions of each place. The project tries to create a new typology of a tower by combing three different traditional types which are the solid type, structural type, and void type. The new tower gives these three different spatial experiences by the places such as in the underground void, in the flying towers or between the towers. People could experience the various tower-like spaces by moving through the places. Besides, the border of the site is also extended vertically that allow it becomes the vertical sidewalk to lead the people to get into the tower and provide a circulation from the front to the back side.

Solid Tower

Structural Tower

Tower in Void

New Tower

Process

Vertical Sidewalk

Tower & Structure

Underground

Underground Tower

Tower Shaped

Circulation

Open Plinth Mixed-Uses Residential & Commercail Instructor: Elena Manferdini/2016Fall Location: China Town Station, Los Angeles Plinth, an access to the building, it decides the people’s experience of architecture and also affects the relationship between city and building. The idea of the studio is to study the different types of the plinth and conceiving a new way to bridge the city and architecture by the plinth. My main concept is using shifted plinths to generate “new ground” and lifted the residential bars to free the “old ground” that allows the project to have whole open public space to the surroundings. The new plinth connects the neighbors, the station and the both sides of the site. The rooftop of housing and plinth become the “new ground” which occupied the whole site. Besides, the materiality of glasses breaks the traditional heavy image of the plinth and creates the floating effect of the project. Therefore, a fluent, float and free plinth was born.

Normal Plinth

Open Plinth

New Ground

Free Ground

Access & Circulation

Water

Vertical Access & New Connection

New Station Stacked Plinth

New Ground & Sky Residential

Residentail New Ground

Fuzzy Monolith Obama Archive Museum Instructor: Darin Johnstone/2015 Fall Location: Jackson Park, Chicago

Study about how a grid system integrates into a mass object and also achieve the quality of fuzzy monolithic. In order to disturb typical stable and the monumental reading of a monolith, the new condition of the shape is generated through capture the movement of a series of rotated shifted cubes. The strategy is applied to the frame, mass and program layout of the building. Monolithic is articulated by serious subtraction from the frame to the mass and mass to frame. Therefore, the situation of form blurs the boundary of mass and frame that the fuzzy monolithic is created.

Grid, Frame, Mass

Mass transformation

Frame transformation

1F Plan

2F Plan

Final Form

Investigate the new possibility of form by transforming from geometries to grids and frames. Give the different thickness to the frame that creates various conditions. At places where frame is inflated, the frame is so thick that it can be misread as mass, but some places still maintain the legibility of the frame itself. Besides, to reach the quality of dynamic situation the frame is generated from rotated, shifted cubes.

Site Plan

4F Plan

Section

Fuzzy Monolith in Design Development Instructor: Herwig Baumartner, Scott Uriu, Mattew Melnyk

Space from Figures Single Family House Instructor: Emmett Zeifman/2015 Spring Location: Silver Lake, Los Angeles The project starts from analyzing the plan of Free Berlin University and extract figures from it as the reference for the development of 3D space. Design the simple pattern from the figures and explore it to various patterns. Wrap these patterns on surfaces of a cube and project figures to create a prototype of dynamic space. Apply the same 2D to 3D technic to generate the space for a single family house. The house located in Silver Lake, Los Angeles and the main idea is to design a house between nature, so all the indoor rooms are divided by outdoor spaces that rise the opportunity for family members to enjoy this beautiful neighbor and the great view of the lake. However the rooms are separated, the view still connects through openings in each room. Thus, the relation of traditional space has been broken and also result in a change of human’s lifestyle.

Elevation

Site Plan

1F Plan

Section

Outdoor Spaces divide Indoor Spaces

View connects each divided room 2F Plan

3F Plan

Construction Documents

Extruded Posture Muti-funtion building Instructor: Ramiro Diaz-Granados/ 2016 Spring Location: LA River, Los Angeles The project is about creating “a city in a building� and makes the building gives different city character to LA city. The new building bridges the two sides of LA river and connects the metro golden line. The site is rearranged in a way which has more connections to the surrounding by new roads and the new station. Besides, the building has its own city circulation inside and the inner circulation also connects with the outer circulation that forms a huge circulation to its context. The shape mixes the figures from study diagram of the Dongdaemun design plaza and Aula TU Delf and dealing the new figure with simple extrusion but gives it a human posture through bending. This building provides various functions to the area such as office, housing, commercial area, and public space. The project becomes a new access to the mountain side of the river.

Original Site

New Site

Circulation

Street

Program

Park

Avenue

Building Access Public Traspotation Access

Vehicular Access

Pedesterian Access

City Circulation

Retail

Office

Housing

Hotel

Hybrid Geometry Hyde Park Library Instructor: Andrew Zago/ 2014 Fall Location: Hyde Park Liabrary, Los Angeles

Creating geometry through rebuilding the Smoke sculpture which made by an artist, Tony Smith. Study about the unit of Smoke and then found the various related geometries for inventing a new form. Merge the two simple geometries by rotating, scaling and cutting that generate the hybrid geometry families. Bring the intelligence of producing hybrid geometry to create the new architectural shape with the solid and void relationship. Moreover, apply the grid system to the exterior geometry to break down the boundary of each surface. Thus, the grid system gives the new language on faรงade and causes misreading effect in this simple shape.

1F Plan

2F Plan

Site Plan

Section

Meng-Wei Lai Address: 1111 Wilshire Blvd. #443, Los Angeles, CA, USA Email: mengwei.lai307@gmail.com Mobile: +1 626-278-3387 Objective To obtain a position that will enable me to maximize my trained experience, development skills and contribute my creative energy.

Education M.Arch I, Southern California Institute of Architecture Los Angeles, USA

2014.07 - Present

Basic Design Course, Forgemind Architecture School Taipei, Taiwan

2013.10 - 2014.01

Bachelor of Communication Engineering, Yuan Ze University Taoyuan, Taiwan

2007.09 - 2011.07

Work Experience Kengo Kuma and Associates, Intern 2016.05 - 2016.07 Tokyo, Japan -Execute the ski resort project in Nagano, Japan for modifying the design after DD phase and prepare materials for the presentation including drawings, renderings, physical models, and references.

-Assist senior designer for the hotel resort project in Hua Hin, Thailand in various detail parts such as refine plans, select furniture, and make physical models.

2014.03 - 2014.06 Wen-Chieh Liu Architect and Associates, Intern Taichung, Taiwan -In charge of designing a single family house project from conceiving concepts to generate the drawings, renderings and physical models and communicate with structure engineer and suppliers in Taichung, Taiwan.

-Assist architect to design landscape project of Ming De Reservoir in Miaoli County, Taiwan.

-Prepare drawings, models and reference materials for presentation to clients.

2013.07 - 2013.10 Detail Architecture and Interior Design Studio, Intern Yilan, Taiwan -Interior design and faรงade design for the hostel remodeling project in Yilan, Taiwan.

-Support the designer in studying design of faรงade for the apartment project in Yilan, Taiwan.

-Manage the work packages given to sub consultants.

Skills Software Autocad/ Rhinoceros(Vray&Grasshopper)/ Revit/ SketchUp/ Maya(Vray&Mental Ray)/ Illustrator/ Indesign/ Photoshop/ Processing Fabrication 3D Print/ Lacer Cut/ Wood Tech/ Model Making Language Mandarin/ English Other Experience Military Service in Army Taipei,Taiwan

2011.08 - 2012.07